It seemed like the nazi reference was appropriate though. In this case, the university system in Germany was ruined by a move away from merit toward an incorrect and abhorrent philosophy.

I think that doesn’t mean that affirmative action = nazism. It means that focusing on things other than merit has negative consequences and should be avoided.

A recent comedy, Death of Stalin, points this out on the micro level when there are no competent doctors to treat Stalin because all doctors who didn’t pledge political fealty were purged.

Having an academic system based on political or philosophical fealty will result in poorer academics.